Home, Eggs, and Thanksgiving
by MissMisinterpreted
Summary: After the sudden death of her parents, Lucy goes to visit her childhood home for some closure. [NaLu] [Rated M for harsh language!]
1. Chapter 1

**Home, Eggs, and Thanksgiving**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**The Home part**

* * *

**It's dumb of** her to go back home.

She knows it is, but for some reason she can't help herself. She doesn't know what specifically prompted her to climb into her car and drive across the country to her old childhood home… but she supposes that Thanksgiving is to blame.

She recalls the warmth of this place, the way it felt when her parents were both alive. She recalls the soft prayers around this season and, conversely, the boisterous laughter that she could never forget.

Lucy just wants to be there again. She wants to experience it again, although she knows it's impossible.

Her parents are dead: they have been for three months now. There is no Thanksgiving feast to go to, only an empty house that she inherited along with billions of dollars that seem worthless. She's not going to find her mother sitting in her study with glasses on and a book in her hand. She won't find her father in his office, taking notes and answering calls to keep the family business afloat.

It's all gone. _They _are gone.

And it doesn't even feel real.

She didn't get time to grieve or time to honor their memories. She was thrust into the business world on a dime, as she was to inherit the company if anything were to happen to her father; she quit college and took over what he left behind. She has talked with every news outlet about where she is taking the company. She has declined to sell the brand to anyone, taking the advice of her parents' closest advisors. There has been no time to cry. There has been no time to stop and think.

Maybe it all just hit her; maybe somewhere deep down within herself she realized that she needed five minutes alone with herself and the house that is no longer her home. She needs this closure. She needs to finally accept the truth of it all.

She's alone in this world now. It's on her shoulders to take care of herself. It doesn't matter what anyone says about her- that a nineteen year old can't run a company, that she's incompetent and all the rest of it –she's on her own now. She is the one who carves out her own future.

It's a future without her two, loving, wonderful parents.

The thought is enough to bring tears to her eyes, but she ignores them.

She recognizes the streets she drives down, most of the houses, the parks, are still the same. The people are a different story. She doesn't know any of them, she doesn't remember the people walking down the sidewalks. She doesn't know the ones who wave at her, the blonde prompted to wave back.

She's a stranger here.

Lucy turns down Strawberry Street, driving to the end of the block and finding her old house. Her breath is taken from her lungs as she sees it. It looks just as she remembers it. It's modest, not at all matching the amount of money they had floating around. Her mother once told her that modesty is a virtue that should be valued above all else. The blonde can't help but silenetly agree, happy she was able to grow up in a nice neighborhood with children her age.

She walks up the driveway and pauses in front of the garage doors. Her heart pounds in her ears as she examines the wood. She spots a dent in the white doors, startling a laugh from herself. She remembers that. She accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brakes the first time she tried to put the car in the garage- the doors never stood a chance.

Lucy is compelled to walk forward, and she does. She sets her hand against the garage door, smiling to herself before looking up. It's stupid… but she can feel the history.

She remembers all the birthday parties, the sob sessions in her room, the way her parents always found her and comforted her. She remembers all of the times they would sit on the couch to watch dumb movies; she remembers the times when she would scream at them for being unfair before her mother would talk her down, her father always following in suit with a gentleness she could never match.

She misses them every single moment she's alive.

"Uh, lady, this house ain't for sale." Lucy jumps at the sound of a voice and whips around to find a man standing a little further down the driveway, his pink hair and bright green eyes a shock to her. She immediately remembers her emotional state and wipes at her eyes, turning away from him slightly as she answers.

"I know." She says quickly. "I mean, I own the place, so…" The man's eyebrows furrow when she looks to him.

"What?" He asks, tilting his head before his eyes widen. "Oh." He pauses. "You must be their daughter then. Lucy, right? The one I see on TV all the time? No wonder you looked so familiar." Lucy laughs, the noise hollow.

"That's me. I've been busy." She turns back to the house. "I haven't even had a chance to come see this place." There's a small pause, and the man clears his throat.

"Hey, I'm sorry about your loss. They were good people." He says, the woman nodding and giving him a tight smile.

"Thank you. They were." She turns towards her house. "Did you know them?" The man walks up to her side while speaking.

"I did, yeah." He says as Lucy looks to the ground. "Layla helped me study for the final exams at the police academy." Lucy pauses for a moment.

"I remember her talking about that." She says softly. "You're Natsu, then?"

"That's me." He says, his voice not as joyful as her mother claimed it to be. "I passed. Just found out a few days after it all happened."

"Congrats." Lucy smiles at him. "Mom would be proud." Natsu's smile mirrors her own- sad, a little bitter.

"I like to think that." He replies wistfully. There's a small pause, and Lucy feels compelled to look away from him, her gaze settling back on the dent in the garage door. "What brings you back here? I totally thought you would sell this place." She smiles slightly.

"Well, I grew up here." She replies. "It reminds me of them, I guess. I wanted to…" She doesn't know what she really wants to do, actually. She came here in search of those answers.

"Grieve?" He guesses, the blonde supposing that that isn't such a bad way of putting it.

"Yeah." She murmurs. "Something like that." There's another pause and he clears his throat a little awkwardly.

"Hey, if you, uh… if you need anyone, I'm right across the street." He says, the blonde nodding before she smiles at him- the action not quite meeting her eyes. "I'm hosting for Thanksgiving tomorrow night, too. So don't be afraid to stop by."

"I'd like that." She smiles. "Thank you, Natsu. That's very kind of you." He flushes a little bit at the praise. "Would you like help preparing? I'm not my mother when it comes to cooking, but I can hold my own." The amount of relief that floods his features is hilarious, and it makes Lucy smile involuntarily.

"That would be awesome." He says, taking a deep breath. "I don't know how to cook, but I wanted to prove to my roomies and dad that I could do it even though I can't." Lucy giggles at the addmission, shaking her head.

"You've got a lot of pride stored away, don't ya?" She teases, the male shrugging with his own smile.

"What can I say? It's the truth." They both share a laugh before falling silent. Lucy realizes in a burst of inspiration that Natsu is actually quite attractive. Maybe not in a very traditional sense, but she thinks that if she ever gets to see him really smile she would melt. Her mother did tell her a lot about that- _oh, if I were thirty years younger, and not married to your amazing wonderful father of course, I would be all over him! You have to meet him when you come to visit-!_

Here she is. This is the visit. It's not exactly the one she wanted, but she supposes she'll have to take what she can get nowadays.

"Anyway," Natsu says, the blonde realizing she had been staring at him for the better half of a minute, "I'm just across the street. Come over whenever, and bring your A-game. We have to blow my friends out of the water." Lucy smiles and gives him a solitary nod.

"Aye sir!" She chirps, the male smiling at her warmly before he turns around and walks back across the street.

Lucy watches him go for a few moments before returning her attention to the task at hand.

And that task is... something.


	2. Chapter 2

**Home, Eggs, and Thanksgiving**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

**The Eggs and Thanksgiving part**

* * *

**Lucy lays on **the floor of her childhood bedroom, staring up at the ceiling.

She doesn't know how long she's been here, now that she thinks about it. It could be days, it could be hours or minutes or maybe mere seconds. She can't tell anymore, and a small part of her doesn't want to be able to.

She's been thinking about everything. About her mom and her dad- parents that she no longer has the privilege of having. She's thought about every single pointless fight, every single slammed door and every word she said out of anger that she never meant.

She should've been kinder. She should have made an effort to be the best daughter possible but now... now she can't rectify any of those arguments. She can never apologize, and she can never make up for her wrongs. Her parents are too far away to fix anything.

The tears come for the umpteenth time that day, and she knows she has to do something. She can't be in here right now, she needs to get up and do anything else. Crying is important, but she's done it too much today: her quota is overfilled.

Lucy drags herself to her feet, her entire body heavy with the weight of sadness and regret. She wishes there were some way for it all to be taken away. However, no amount of prayer or reflecting has been able to bring her any peace. She is still resentful of the things she can't control and looking for a way to stimy all the bad feelings within her.

_You just have to feel them_, her father's voice suddenly echoes in her mind, _no matter how painful it is. You just have to feel them._

Oh, how Lucy wishes her dad was wrong.

The blonde, feeling as shitty as ever, manages to locate her phone downstairs. She sighs. It's Thanksgiving day, and she's alone. Without friends or family or anyone...

Bright pink hair suddenly pops into her mind. That's right... she made a promise to Natsu to help him with his Thanksgiving meal. She's not alone, she can go help him for a few hours and get her mind off things. She has to admit that she's a little nervous, obviously they aren't the best of friends or anything close to that. She doesn't even think they can qualify as friends, can they? Whatever, she doesn't care. All she knows is that he seems nice, and her mother liked him. That's good enough for her.

Lucy collects a few things from her house- a mixing bowl, a pan for making some of her mother's famous chocolate bars, a few spatulas -and then makes her way over to Natsu's home. Some of her sadness slips away, excitement replacing it. She is less sad at the prospect of making a meal with him, her unwillingness to be lonely on Thanksgiving helping with her mood. She _will _have a _good _day dammit!

The blonde knocks on Natsu's door and hears some yelling. After a minute or so of waiting, a man who is definitely not Natsu answers the door. He's tall with raven hair and dark eyes that seem to stare right through her. She watches as his eyebrows raise.

"Uh, hi?" He says (his voice is so deep, what the heck), "Is there something I can do for you?" Lucy smiles and thinks of what Natsu said yesterday.

"Hi," she says, "I came to make some stuff with Natsu. My parents used to live across the way-"

"Oh, you're Lucy." He interrupts her, and she nods. "Yeah, come in. I should've been able to recognize you, you look exactly like Layla." Lucy smile turns melancholic as she steps inside.

"That's what I hear." She replies, the man leaning back on his heels.

"How has running the company been? I'm sure it's not easy." Lucy barks out a laugh.

"Oh it is not." She says, sort of grateful to be off the subject of her mother. "But I learn a little more everyday. Luckily all the craziness comes a certain level of understanding."

"That's good." He says. "I'm glad things are working out." He pauses for a moment. "I'm Gray, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Lucy nods to him. If she didn't have so much shit in her arms, she would shake his hand.

"Natsu's been in the kitchen all morning. At one point he turned up the music so we wouldn't hear him swearing." Lucy giggles at the information, because, sure enough, she can hear music blasting. A loud 'fuck' is heard over the music, despite his best efforts to keep it quiet. It makes her shake her head. "Thanks for helping him out." Gray tells her as they reach the archway into the kitchen.

"It's my pleasure. Cooking is always-" Natsu suddenly appears at the archway, a panicked look in his eyes.

"Lucy! Thank God you're here, the turkey is-" he stops and glares at Gray, hatred in his eyes, "get out of here ice princess, we've got it handled!" He yanks Lucy into the kitchen, and she just rolls her eyes with amusement. "That guy is always spying on me, he totally thinks I can't cook!"

"Have you given him a reason to believe otherwise?" Lucy asks, unable to fight a small smile as she sets her cookware down. Natsu gives her a blank stare.

"You're on his side, aren't ya?" He asks, the woman laughing.

"C'mon, let's assess the damage. I'm sure it's not that..." Natsu pulls the turkey into her view, and she trails off at what she sees. "Where... where did the other half of it go?" Yeah. The turkey is split in half- like it was torn apart. Natsu just points, and on the other counter there is the other half of the turkey covered in what she thinks may be stuffing.

"Yeah. It's bad, Luce." He tells her, the blonde sighing.

"It's nothing we can't fix." She decides, winking at him before launching into hyperdrive. "Let's get cooking! We can do it!"

"Hell yeah! You're right!" He chirps, immediately getting hyped. "Let's do this thing!"

Lucy then helps Natsu for the next five hours. They cook, prep, bake, talk, joke around and Lucy catches herself almost crying from laughter more times than she can count. Natsu is a bundle of energy, that much is for sure. He's loud and acerbic, and sometimes straight up crude- but he also has a side of compassion and kindness. She can tell he cares deeply about his friends and his family (if his anxiety about preparing a good meal for them isn't enough to go off on, he has told her about twenty million different stories of their accomplishments).

After everything is in the oven and things are just waiting to be eaten, Natsu and Lucy just sit and talk. The blonde finds herself enjoying it immensely. She can't remember the last time she's been able to sit down with another human being and not talk about the newest innovations of railroad industry or offers that she just can't refuse when it comes to selling her company.

In a way this is all just crazy. An owner worth billions of Jewel sitting on an island countertop across from a newly graduated policeman who probably lives paycheck to paycheck with his friends. She wonders what the odds were that this is a normal occurance in the world.

"Jeez, you think loudly."

Lucy raises an eyebrow at the man sitting across from her. He's staring at the oven, arms crossed and a smile spread on his lips. He loves to tease her, something he just discovered today. Like a fool, she falls for it every time.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" She asks, feigning slight annoyance. She just likes the way he reacts to her reactions... it's cute.

"It means think quieter! I am _trying _to send good vibes to this turkey." Lucy shakes her head despite the smile that creeps up her mouth. She turns her attention to the turkey that they half-hazardly put back together. It looks pretty good, if she does say so herself.

"Natsu, I think we sent enough good vibes to that thing." She sighs. "I mean, we basically brought it back from the dead." He shoots her a look.

"Then why doesn't it gobble?" He asks, the blonde giggling. He then emulates a turkey, pecking at the air. "Gobble-gobble!"

"Natsu!" She laughs jovially. Her stomach hurts from how much she's been laughing today, but he always surprises her with something goofy.

"I'm demonstrating!" He stresses, although he's laughing too. "You've never become a turkey before?"

"No, of course not!" She says. "You're silly, you know that?" He rolls his eyes.

"I'm not silly," He says proudly, "grown-ass-men ain't silly. Especially policemen. We're _serious_."

"Uh-huh." Lucy says, hopping down onto the floor despite how her feet achce from standing so long. "Do policemen waddle around like this?" She copies his movements, and pecks the air, causing Natsu to also burst into laughter. "Gobble-gobble!"

"I did not look like that!" He claims, the girl poking his shoulder with a dropped jaw.

"You did too!" She says, the man shaking his head defiantly through his chuckles.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did t-"

Natsu swings around so quickly, Lucy barely has time to process what just transpired. He stands proudly, a broken egg shell in his hand as egg drips down her face. Lucy gasps in complete and utter shock. For a moment they stare at each other before Natsu quickly steals a few eggs and the blonde reacts.

"_Natsu!_" She screeches, the man laughing madly as he dives across the kitchen. Lucy spots the carton and loads herself up with a few eggs, hurling them at the pink haired devil as he ducks around. Egg yolk drips down onto her bare skin. "Gross!"

"That's what happens." He shrugs, grinning evily. "Next time you should really look- _GACK_!" Lucy nails him _right _in the face, the blonde laughing unashamedly at him.

"Get fucked!" She chirps, the male suddenly hurdling the island and knocking her to the floor. "Ah! Natsu- Natsu, no!" He takes an egg and cracks it on her forehead the moment she grabs her own ammunition and slams it against the side of his face. She laughs wildly despite the grossness, and he laughs with her.

It takes a moment for them to calm down, but once they do, Lucy realizes just what kind of position they're in.

Natsu is draped over her, his elbows resting on either side of her head, their chests pressed together, his knees caging either side of her hips. Since when did they get this close? She quickly realizes that she doesn't care so much about that as she does about her pounding heart. He's loud, he's cute, he's kind... she's had more fun with him today than she's had in these past three months combined. She's never felt this connected with anyone before.

She wants to kiss him.

She thinks Natsu may be thinking the same thing as he brushes egg off of her face, his fingertips tracing down the side of her face. His touch is like fire on her skin, and she finds herself needing more. She wets her lips as her arms slip around his neck, the blonde pulling him down ever so slightly so he gets the hint.

He does, and their lips meet in a soft, hesitant, kiss. He pulls back, looking for something in her gaze. She can't help the dumb smile that overtakes her features, and he smiles too before leaning down for a longer kiss. This one is filled with a little more heat, more confidence as he moves against her lips. She tilts her head to allow him better access, her hand slipping through his hair as her eyes fall shut involunatrily.

Natsu places a more open mouth kiss against her lips, and she understands. She allows her own lips to part as he licks her upper lip. She meets him halfway with her own tongue, and they both shudder at the feeling. They find their own natural rhythm, and Lucy begins to wonder how she could have lived without Natsu- without _this_.

The way he holds her so tenderly makes her realize that her past boyfriends couldn't have possibly loved her the way they claimed to. They told her words to make her feel good, but Natsu has delivered with action. She feels wanted with the way his lips move against hers. She feels like she's something special when her cups her jaw with his hand. She feels beautiful when he pulls away from her lips to press a few kisses to her cheeks and nose.

"I'm going to be in town for this week." She tells him as his lips trace her jaw.

"Only a week?" He asks, the blonde's heart hammering in her chest at the sound of his disappointment.

"Yeah." She says, the male pulling back and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Wanna go out tomorrow night?" He asks, the woman nodding as she fails to fight a smile. He wants something more too.

"That would be great." She says, the man pressing a long kiss to her lips. After a moment, he basically wrenches himself away from her lips before propping himself up better on his elbows. He looks down at her and she feels her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

"What? Do I have egg on my face?" She asks, the male smiling in a way she hasn't seen before. She can't place the look in his eyes, but she knows that it makes her heart leap in her chest.

"Yes." He says, the woman getting ready to wack him before he speaks again. "And it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Her heart positively melts at that and she yanks him back down to her lips before the timer on the stove goes off. They both sigh, and Natsu sets his forehead against hers. "I don't want to get up."

"Me neither." She tells him. "But we have to knock your family's socks off, remember?"

"Oh hell yeah, I do." He says, pulling from that fully stocked energy bin he seems to have. "C'mon Luce! Let's get moving!" He shoves himself to his feet, reaching down and pulling Lucy up as well. He sneaks a small kiss to her cheek, causing her heart to flutter, before they both move around each other with a practiced ease that comes naturally to them now.

"Hey, Natsu! Your parents are..." Gray appears in the archway and finds the egg-soaked kitchen and egg-soaked people. "Uh... you've got some..."

"I know." Lucy grins. "Natsu and I got carried away with the eggs." Right as she says this, Natsu chucks an egg that hits Gray right between the eyes. Lucy has never seen such rage as Gray absolutely explodes. She won't go into detail, but there's suddenly a lot of screaming, a lot of eggs, and a whole family joining in on the fun.

Hours later, Lucy who is covered in egg white and yolk, is sitting next to Natsu who looks identically messy. They sit around a table with a bountiful meal and others who share her and Natsu's complexion. They pray and share a meal. Natsu and Lucy recieve praise for a job well done (although they _do _find egg shells in their meal every once in awhile).

The blonde finds herself with a full heart, sitting with a man who she could see herself falling for, a family she could someday call her own, and friends who could be with her for a lifetime.

Lucy Heartfilia is not alone on Thanksgiving.

Natsu shoots her a smile suddenly, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek. She grabs his hand in response, smiling shyly as the others around the table begin to ask questions.

And yes, her parents are gone. They left her suddenly and unfairly, but _she_ is still here. She can still make something with the time that she has left, and she will make her parents proud. She's thankful for all of the moments that lead her here. She may not be okay in a few hours, but right now she's not alone.

Looking around the table at these bright, happy faces, Lucy thinks that she won't ever have to be alone again.

* * *

**I've always wanted to make a Thanksgiving sort of thing, and I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. It's not at all fleshed out or detailed to my usual liking, but idk- it has charm! Basically it's just a really long excuse to get Natsu and Lucy to kiss lmaaaoooooo**

**Happy Thanksgiving to all! Tell me what you're thankful for! (I'm thankful for God, my friends, and my phone :))**


End file.
